Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies. Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Polanco Injured; ESPN Writer Loses His Mind

In the 3rd inning of today’s Phillies-Pirates match-up in Bradenton, FL, Placido Polanco tripped on the pitcher’s mound trying to catch a pop-up.He limped off the field and is said to have a right knee strain.Initial reports are that it is not serious and Polly should be back in action in 3 or 4 days.This is first real injury for the Phillies in camp thus far and we hope it is the last.

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

The other interesting news came from Buster Olney of ESPN this week; he claims that his “sources” had reported that the Phillies were talking about swapping 1st baseman with the Cardinals.That’s right, in Olney’s alternate universe, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols would trade places.Perhaps Olney’s “sources” were aliens from Mars?Or maybe it was just the little voices inside his head who yearn to see Olney locked up in a padded room?

The odds of this sort of swap happening are astronomical; it is not even a fair trade.No offense to Howard, but clearly Pujols is the better overall player.Yes, Howard is from St. Louis, but this is no reason for the Cards to think they would get him cheap.And the Phillies could never afford Pujols.GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was so perturbed at the news, he flat out called Olney a liar. “It’s ridiculous,” Amaro said. “It’s unequivocally false. It’s unfair to Ryan. It’s unfair to the organization to have to answer the questions.”

Halladay Human

Despite all the drama, the Phillies went on to win today by a score of 5-1.Roy Halladay gave up his first run of Spring and also walked two batters; all this means is we now have proof that the man is not a robot.I think we can all live with the 1.00 ERA.

Languishing Lefties

While the starting pitching looks good, some of the relievers do not.JC Romero will not be ready for Opening Day so one of the young lefties will need to step up to fill the void.However, neither Antonio Bastardo, Sergio Escalona or Mike Zagurski have looked ready to do so thus far.Bastardo has allowed 3 runs over 2 innings of work; Escalona has 5 runs allowed in 3 innings; and Zagurski only made 1 appearance.He is still trying to get back in the groove after Tommy John surgery.One of these three lefties will need to show that they can do the job and right now, it does not look good.

Pet Peeve of The Week

So many MLB teams these days have radio and TV announcers that leave a lot to be desired.Realizing that Philly fans were spoiled for decades with the great Harry Kalas, it may be an unfair comparison.However, during the Phillies-Pirates match-up today, a Pirates announcer took “unprofessional” to a new level.Tim Neverett, hired in December 2008, does play-by-play for the Bucos.And today, he did not win any brownie points from Philly fans.

In the middle of the 4th inning, Neverett began praising the team’s mascot, the Pirate Parrot and mentioned how he was harassing Philly fans in the stands.He went on to say, “I think the Parrot likes this.There’s no better group of fans to tease than the Philadelphia fans…(pause)…Because there’s no worse fans.The same people who boo Santa Claus are now getting it from the Pirate Parrot.”

First of all, the Santa Claus incident was in 1968 at an Eagles football game.Get over it.Secondly, there are “no worse fans?”Seriously?Apparently, Mr. Neverett must be a world traveler who has first-hand knowledge of such things.While I am not going to waste time comparing Philly fans to experiences I have had elsewhere, I will say that such a general statement is both ignorant and rude.

A small segment of fans of ANY team are bound to be obnoxious and disruptive.That is human nature.You expect to hear this sort of prejudice from those obnoxious fans, not from the radio announcer who is being paid to be objective and professional.You want rude?Ok then, BOO YOU Mr. Neverett!You should be ashamed.

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6 Comments

Jenn, I read about Olney’s Hunter/Pujols story on Paul Lebowitz’s blog today (Prince of New York) and he was saying the same things you are. Where did Olney get his info, and are reporters so desperate for news these days that they just make stuff up? And yeah, Halladay’s human but not very.🙂

Jenn,
That is okay I reminded Onley a few months ago he is a blogger now and is going to be viewed with more intense pressure just like the rest of us.
Never got a email back, but I expected that from a media member (lol).
Seriosuly, the Phillies fans have been cursed with the actions of the few defining the masses.
But that happens in life. People hop on a generalization and smack the entire region, sex or even nationality with that one flaw.
The Rays fans were called bandwagoner’s in 2009 since the attendance went down to people’s eyes, but in reality it went up while most of the MLB went down a drop or two…First impression still rule the day…. just like High School.

When I first saw the Albert/Ryan Howard trade rumor I laughed because it’s SO far fetched. This isn’t PS3 or Xbox and the Cards would never do that. It amazes me sometimes what people write. That would undoubtedly make the Phillies better (getting Albert), that is for sure. But it’s REALLY far fetched. http://clevelandbaseball.mlblogs.com/

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